ITHACA, N.Y. — The lead singer of headliner band MisterWives, Mandy Lee, embraced the spirit of 2017 Slope Day when they spoke to the crowd mid-set. The message was clear: despite the garbage occurring in the world everyday, despite our seeming differences, music is our common language, so let’s all put aside the negativity and dance our asses off — at least for the remaining 30 minutes or so.
Slope Day is Cornell’s annual end-of-year celebration, and many students look forward to it for months. Classes are over; exams have yet to begin–it’s the calm within the study-storm. And while there is a very real party reputation surrounding the event, the one day festival is widely just students letting their hair down, enjoying the sunshine and the live tunes.
Don’t get me wrong, we still saw the ‘Sober Monitor’ (his T-shirt read) dancing on the railing of a frat house patio, a grassy landing some 20 feet below him. A student still uttered – after asking for his picture to be taken – something to the nature of, “Hold on, hold on. It’s hitting me now. It’s kicking in right now… The Molly. OK, take my picture.”
However, if I had to pinpoint the singular element of Slope Day this year: youthful smiling faces, and many of them. Regardless of the circumstance – lounging on the grass, dancing, embracing one another, taking a selfie while on someone’s shoulders – the scene was lively, reminiscent of a perfectly wasted last hurrah at college.
See for yourself in these photos from Slope Day 2017:
All photos by Contributor Serena Ansari. Note: Some photos in this gallery are not candid.
